Open Invitation

(Pretend) family is family, but Richie has standards. So when I applied for the position of Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s fourth grade secular studies teacher in 1997, it wasn’t a given that the job was mine, even though he had seen me teach as a counselor and later as the teacher for a Russian kiruv program situated in his outside office. He was, though, the principal. The memory of my messy science model lesson — it involved red cabbage-tinted water and lemon juice — in a tiny classroom packed with 30 (!) boys still boggles my mind, but there was no question I impressed him.

But as a man of integrity who was concerned that I experienced beginner’s luck, Richie shared one caveat before he hired me: “I’ll fire you if I have to.”

The warning scared me, but it also relit the fire he had seen in my early camp years. I don’t know who wanted my success more, me or him.

Richie didn’t leave me to falter on my own. I taught under him for 15 years for class 4K. He taught me to connect with my students and stand up to their parents (hey, I was only 22!), his pedagogy surpassed only by his compassion. He also called me out when I needed to hear it (it didn’t always help though — I still speak too quickly and have subpar whiteboard skills), but baruch Hashem, 30 years later, I’m still in education in Darchei.